External Impetus
by Rinari7
Summary: "Why do you have Kate's phone?" Gibbs demanded. "She's never gonna tell you, but she llikes you." The woman on the other end of the phone giggled drunkenly. Sometimes what people need is a little push.
1. Chapter 1

Gibbs wondered why Agent Todd would be calling him at this hour of the night, but he didn't hesitate to unclip his cell phone from his belt.

"Hiii." The slurred, trailed-out word made him frown. There was some kind of commotion in the background, pounding music and the murmur of raised voices.

"Who is this?" - "Is this Gibbs?" They spoke together, and then he set the sanding block down on his workbench.

"You've reached him. Who is this? Where is Kate?" He pushed now, his voice gruff, to mask the worry he couldn't keep from rising in his throat.

"She's fiiine. Man, she was right. You are a hard-ass. She stilll-llikes you though." The female caller was likely drunk, and he just hoped Kate was in a better state.

"Does she need a ride?" It might not have been strictly professional, but their job had forced them into more 'unprofessional' situations, and he didn't give a damn when it came to the safety of his agents.

"Nope." The caller popped the 'p'. "She's m' ride."

"Why are you calling me? And why do you have her phone?" He enunciated each word.

"She's not gonna tell you she llikes you. But you gotta be blind not to see it. She gets a li'l bit red when she starts talkin' about you an' it's so _cute_!"

He swallowed, heavily, forcing the next words over his tongue. "I'm her boss."

He regretted that job offer, in his moments of weakness, when he thought she would look far better sprawled on his bed than sitting at her desk, and hearing that she might actually want to be there made his skin feel tight.

"Who the hell are you, anyways?"

A giggle. "A friend. Name's-heyyy!"

The whine of protest grew fainter as the phone was obviously taken away and Kate's voice came over the line, raised to be heard above the music. "I'm so sorry, Gibbs. I have no clue what she said to you-what the hell, Jess, calling my boss!-but please ignore her. She's drunk."

"Yeah. I got that." He allowed himself a small, private smile. "You should really pay more attention to who has your phone."

"She was just-come on, Jess-I asked her to hold my purse while I used the restroom. I had no clue she would call you. What did she say even say?"

The din subsided, replaced by the sound of tires on wet pavement, and then that was gone, too. "I told him you llike him." Jess hadn't adjusted her volume accordingly.

" _What?!_ " He winced and held the phone away from his ear. Kate murmured a quick "Sorry, Gibbs," and then must have lowered the phone, since her voice wasn't quite as loud in his ear but still raised.

" _What the hell_ , Jessica Katelyn Roberts! This is the last time I spend time with you anywhere with alcohol!"

"But I would've done it without the alcohol." Another giggle. "And you love me anyways, Katie-Cat."

"Just-the car is this way."

An exasperated sigh echoed over the line as she lifted the phone to her ear again. "Please just ignore her, Gibbs. I'm really sorry."

"So you're admitting that you failed to keep your phone on you and accessible at all times, which is part of your job?" He suppressed the smile on his face to make sure it didn't come through in his voice.

"I-" She swallowed, then tried again. "Yeah, I really would have answered it while on the toilet or washing my hands."  
So she had chosen sarcasm, and he loved the banked fire in her voice. "If you really needed me, you would have called again in five minutes, and she would have either picked up for me, or let me know someone had called. I did _not_ neglect my job."

"So who's this Jessica?"

"A friend from college. She's staying with me for a few days while she sees DC."

"Was she, by any chance, with you on a certain trip to Panama?" He would never say it, but he might have been grateful for Tony's childish tendencies the moment that popped up on his screen.

"Oh _god_. That picture was never meant for your eyes. Remind me to kill DiNozzo when I see him tomorrow."

There was the faint _clack_ of heels on the pavement in the background, and he pushed away the thought of her in a dress and heels and just a bit of smokey eyeshadow in favor of what she would likely do to DiNozzo with one of those heels at some point. He couldn't tell if one image was any better for his sanity than the other.

"What're you two talking about? You're going all red, Katie!"

Her voice through the phone was muffled. She must have put her hand over the receiver. "Technically, this would be the second time you've gotten me into trouble at work. Remember that 'contest' on the beach in Panama?"

" _Oh my god!_ " Another fit of giggles. "An' he's seen that?"  
"Thanks to my asshole coworker."

"An' he still hasn't jumped you? Dammnn, Katie-Cat..." The rest of the other woman's reply was unintelligible.

It wasn't like he hadn't thought about it. He took a swig of his bourbon. Make that two long gulps.

" _Now_ you get it," she scoffed before lifting the phone to her ear again. "I'm so sorry, Gibbs." She paused, inhaled, then continued somehow both more and less self-consciously. "I hope she didn't wake you. Good night."

She was doing what she should have done a while ago-cut him off and control the situation. Bad girl.

"Good night." He waited to hear her hang up, resisting the urge to add a teasing " _Katie-Cat_ ".

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Just for reference, I have no experience with drunk people. My apologies if something seems off.


	2. Chapter 2

She had been a little jumpier the past few days, glancing at him a little more often, spending a little more time in the lab with Abby when she could.

It annoyed him. So he had been simultaneously gratified and irritated to see her eyes light up and her muscles tense when he announced she would be his partner for the stakeout tonight.

She shifted in the seat next to him now, settling into a more comfortable position, tilting her head towards him. He had allowed her to sleep first, giving himself the luxury of observing her as she slept, during a time when they were unlikely to catch a glimpse of their suspect.

She looked good, with her perfect hair slightly mussed, eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks, letting out barely-audible mewls every now and then. But she didn't seem afraid or distressed, so he let her be.

As the hours wore on, he wondered if this was more torture for him than for her. She was sleeping, oblivious-she didn't snore-but he was left to wonder if she always slept like this, what she would look like stretched out and comfortable on a proper bed.

Eventually, though, the red lines on the dashboard clock persuaded him to lay a hand on her shoulder. "Kate." He swallowed. "Kate, wake up."

"Hrm?" She blinked at him, some of her hair sticking up from where it had been trapped against the headrest.

"Rise and shine."

"We're not s'pposed to shine. It would 'ttract 'ttention." Her words were mumbled as she shook her head. It was almost cute.

He handed her his cup of coffee. "It's cold, but it's caffeine."

"Thanks." She lifted it to her lips, then stopped, staring at it. "This is yours."

"So?"

She blinked, several times. "No one drinks your coffee."

"Drink, Kate. That's an order. I need you awake."

Almost hesitantly, she set her lips to the rim and tipped it back. She swallowed several times before she offered it back to him. "Thanks."

He nodded. "Welcome."

Silence settled over them, a heavy, itchy wool comforter, though Kate didn't seem to be squirming as she tilted her head from one side to the other, stretching her neck. A car meandered past, slow in the dark residential area, and pulled into a nearby driveway.

He leaned the driver's seat back a little and settled into the headrest. She shifted in the passenger seat, but he refused to open his eyes. Yet neither could he sleep.

This wasn't an uncommon occurrence, but he really had nothing to do right now but sleep.

"So, 'Katie-Cat'?" He allowed the corners of his mouth to tilt upwards.

"Oh, hell no." She was decidedly more awake now, the last of the cobwebs falling from her voice. "Jess decided in seventh grade that was going to be my nickname and I haven't been able to break her of it since. But I am not having _that_ get around work."

He was feeling bold. "Like that photo?"

He could practically see her cheeks redden, in his mind's eye, as she attempted and failed to reply several times. "Also her fault. Hers and the five or so beers I'd had."

"She seemed like a character." He kept his eyes closed.

"Jess is Jess. I love her but I'd also love to strangle her."

"Not shoot her?"

"No. That's reserved for you." Earlier, he would have said he was deluding himself to admit he heard a pleased-dare he say flirtatious-lilt in her voice. Now, he wondered if it wasn't just him.

"Me and any other actual threat." He wouldn't have believed she would actually shoot him, before he was forced to believe that Diane would come after him with a seven-iron.

She began to say something again, then stopped. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know." He softened his tone.

He liked silence. Usually, he liked silence. Now, it just made him painfully aware of her proximity, her breathing, every time she shifted slightly in her seat, crossed her legs (he assumed), uncrossed them, toed her shoes off to fold her legs underneath her to sit cross-legged on the seat.

"Was it true?"

"What do you mean, Gibbs?" He heard her move in the seat again, the tires of another car passing on the wet pavement outside.

"What she said."

Her sharp intake of breath made him tense, and it took a moment to consciously relax again. Her voice was low, surprisingly steady. "Does it really matter?"

He swallowed, couldn't decide what to say, and said nothing instead.

"Yes." It was more a sigh than anything, and then her tone turned almost irritated. "I know Rule Twelve, Gibbs, and I know I'm not your type. I'm not deluded. So if we could both forget this, I'd really appreciate it."

He wanted to say something-he didn't know what, but something-but then she suddenly switched to matter-of-fact. "Sorry, you're gonna have to wake up again. That looks like our guy getting into the white sedan."

She rattled off the license plate, and he raised the seat again and set the key into the ignition.


	3. Chapter 3

He had never been one for small talk, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to breeze past her without a word in the mornings.

He had always had some vestigial instinct to protect her, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to watch her a little more on a mission, and send her around the back, where she'd hopefully be out of the line of fire-or clench his teeth as she walked beside him, because he couldn't send her around the back all the time.

He had always been a coffee addict, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to swipe hers off her desk with an internal smile as he sat down with his reports.

It wasn't even all that out of the ordinary for him to notice every time she shifted in her seat at the desk beside his. But if he didn't stop seeing flashes of her curled towards him in her sleep on that stakeout, or-worse, better?-sprawled out on his bed, he was going to get behind on his paperwork and someone would notice.

She seemed to make a conscious effort to treat him as she always had before, avoiding him less. But she didn't tease, or if she did, it was stilted and a little self-conscious.

It only took two days before he was fed up.

"Kate." He glanced at her, standing stiffly beside him in the elevator, and hit the emergency stop. "What would it take to make things normal again?"

She almost retreated, moving closer to the wall, edging towards the doors. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't think this is the least bit awkward?"

"Why should it be?"

A sigh. "Fine, Gibbs. Maybe I'm a little embarrassed. Just give me a few days and I'll get over it."

"Why would you be embarrassed?" He would never understand women, but he kept his tone soft as he watched her, taking a few steps back herself to give her some space.

"Because wanting what you can't have is childish." She was quiet, too, self-incrimination trembling in her tone.

"You think I wouldn't consider it a compliment, that you find me attractive?"

Her cheeks took on a tinge of pink, and she stared at the floor. "I don't know what you would or wouldn't consider a compliment, Gibbs, but I know you're not looking for any kind of relationship, and the entire thing hardly reflects well on me."

"I could make arrangements for a transfer. You could easily find a place in someone else's team, or even head your own." It would kill him to see her go, but she was more than capable.

She shook her head, taking a deep breath before she raised her eyes to his. "I don't-"

Biting her lip, she let out a breathy half-laugh and tried again. "You're not easy to work for, but I like working with you."

"You're not distracted?" He took a step closer.

She shook her head. "I'm okay when we have a case, something urgent I can focus on."

"You don't think I might be distracted?" Another step, him carefully watching her.

Kate laughed. "You, letting something distract you from a case?"

"It's been known to happen."

"When?" She shifted her weight onto one foot, adjusting her coat in her arms.

"On Air Force One, for instance."

"Gibbs." She turned her head, swallowed. "Don't tease me."

"I'm not." He could reach out and touch her, but he didn't. "I should have grilled you harder, sooner, on the differences in the planes. Kept you out of the case entirely. But I didn't."

She just stared at him, then shook her head. "You know how to cooperate. FBI, DEA, local law enforcement. I agreed to let you lead. That's why you didn't get rid of me."

"You weren't an investigator, and you were too close to the case."

"Okay." She eyed him, her brow wrinkled. "What are you getting at?"

"I don't want to lose one of my best agents." He took one more step to stand in front of her, the corners of his mouth twitching up almost involuntarily, wryly. "But you don't think it might be just a little distracting, knowing there's a gorgeous woman sitting at the desk beside mine who just might let me have her?"

"Gibbs." She was suddenly breathless, her eyes searching his. "You-you actually want-? What about Rule Twelve?"

"I'm your boss, not your coworker." A technicality, but then she wasn't Jen, either.

Her eyes widened, and her tongue darted out to moisten her lower lip.

Slowly, to give her time to move away if she wanted, he closed the distance between his lips and hers.

When her fingers locked behind his neck, he smiled and threaded his fingers through her hair, unsure if he ever intended to let go.

He did stop kissing her for a moment, to ask her a question. "Is your friend still in town?"

"Jess?" Kate breathless and panting and a little dazed was something he wanted to hear more often. "She leaves the day after tomorrow. Why?"

He rested his forehead against hers. "I'm pretty sure we both ought to thank her."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Yes, pretty much fluff. Not what I usually write, but I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
